Division of Laura Lee is a band of Swedish musicians/skateboarders originally from Vänersborg, Sweden heavily influenced by post-punk bands, britpop and the DC music scene (Dischord Records). The name comes from Laura Lee, a soul singer, and the phrase "Division Of" which was spotted on a cardboard box at their practice space.
Biography
Division of Laura Lee was formed in Vänersborg in the late 1990s with band members Per Stålberg, Jonas Gustafsson, Henrik Röstberg and Håkan Johansson.[1] The name comes from Laura Lee, a soul singer, and the phrase "Division Of" which was spotted on a cardboard box at their practice space.[2]
A debut single was released in December 1997 and the band started touring in December 1998, first in Sweden and then Europe.[1] David Fransson replaced Röstberg in 2000 and the group released a debut album Black City in 2002.[3][4] Gustafsson said of the band in 2002, "We’re working-class kids. [Vänersborg is] a town where you either do drugs or work at the Saab factory, and we were outsiders. You have to believe in something."[5]
Their second album Das Not Compute was released in 2004.[6] They were described in a gig review published in Aftonbladet in 2004 as having emerged as "one of [Sweden's] most intense rock bands” who were best seen live.[7] The following year, in 2005, they were to tour the United States but this was cancelled at three days notice owing to financial problems at the record company, Burning Heart.[8] They performed at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas in March 2006.[8]
Two further albums followed: Violence Is Timeless, released in 2008, reached no. 34 in the Swedish charts, and Tree, released in 2013, reached no. 41.[9] Viktor Lager joined the band for the Tree album and Fransson left in 2017.[4] The band marked 20 years since their formation with an anniversary gig in December 2017; Stålberg ascribed the band's longevity to staying true to themselves and creating something unique and real, and asserted that they would continue to play together for as long as it was fun.[1] The album Apartment was released in 2020.[10]
^"What's in a name". Division of Laura Lee. Archived from the original on 22 April 2004. At first, the name seems arbitrary, but that's how fate works: in twists. Laura Lee is a soul singer. A day in Sweden around September 1997, a cardboard box was looked at. The ink on the side of the box read, simply, "Division of:" A band was given a name.
^Kling, Mattias (31 May 2004). "Gediget hårt mangel". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 August 2020.
^ abAndersson, Jan (19 September 2009). "Division of Laura Lee är tillbaka" [Division of Laura Lee is back]. Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2020.